22/11/2017 Wednesday in Parliament

Hello and welcome to the programme

on the day the Chancellor

delivers his budget,

with a pledge to try

to help new home owners.

For all first-time buyer purchases

up to £300,000 I am abolishing stamp

duty altogether.

But Jeremy Corbyn predicts misery

will continue for many.

It is a record of failure with a

promise of more to come.

Also on this programme,

MPs warn the UK could be facing

an epidemic of opiod abuse.

And, in the Lords, Peers demand

action on the plastic

going into our seas.

Can't we have a positive action to

cut down the number of plastic

bottles, they are a disgrace.

But, first, the Chancellor Philip

Hammond took the traditional photo

call outside Number 11 on Wednesday

morning as he prepared

to deliver his autumn budget.

As is tradition, the Chancellor

was flanked by his junior ministers

as he stepped into Downing Street

and held aloft the budget

box, containing that

all important speech.

After smiles and photos

it was into the official car

for the short journey to the Commons

to unveil his plans.

And so the nearly hour long speech,

in which the chancellor announced

he was abolishing stamp duty

for first time buyers on properties

worth up to £300,000 in England,

Wales and Northern Ireland.

There were also announcements

on house building, the controversial

new welfare payment

Universal Credit, and funding

for England's NHS.

But Philip Hammond began

with the preparations for Brexit.

We have already invested almost £700

million in Brexit preparations.

And today I am setting

aside over the next two

years another £3 billion.

And I stand ready to allocate

further sums if and when needed.

But the budget he said

was about much more than Brexit.

It was he insisted a budget

for the future, to prepare to meet

the challenges ahead.

A country fit for the future. I know

we will not build it overnight but

we will lay the foundations. Mr

Deputy Speaker, I am being tempted

with something more exotic but I

will stick with water. I took the

precaution. I did take the

precaution of asking my right

honourable friend to bring a packet

of cough sweets just in case.

Conservative MPs roared,

but the next section of the speech

was less light-hearted

as the Chancellor revealed

figures from the Office

for Budget Responsibility predicting

slower growth in coming years.

And regrettably, our productivity

performance continues to disappoint.

The old BR has assumed that each of

the last 16 physical events that

productivity growth would return to

its pre-crisis trend of about 2% a

year but it has remained stubbornly

flat. Today the revised down the

outlook for productivity growth,

business investment and GDP growth

across the forecast period.

Moving on to specific announcements,

Philip Hammond said there'd be

a rise in the personal allowance

on income tax to £11,850,

a 28 pence a packet rise in the cost

of cigarettes and a freeze

in most alcohol duties.

In other measures, he'd look

at a tax on single use plastic

items, put £540 million

into supporting the growth

of electric cars, and give schools

and colleges £600 for each new pupil

taking maths at A-level.

And there'd be tweaks to the new

welfare benefit Universal Credit.

MPs on all sides have warned

that the six week wait before

new claimants receive their payments

was pushing people into

debt and rent arrears.

First, we will remove the seven-day

waiting period applied at the

beginning of a benefit claim sole

entitlement will begin on the day of

the claim. To provide greater

support during the waiting period we

will change the advances system to

make sure any period that needs it

can access a film on's payment

within five days of applying. We

will make it possible to apply for

an advance online. We will extend

the payment period for the dancers

from six months to 12 months, and

any new Universal Credit claimant in

receipt of housing benefit at the

time of the claim will continue to

receive that for a further two

weeks.

England's NHS has lobbied hard

for more money and Philip Hammond

said he recognised the system

was under pressure.

I am therefore exceptionally and it

said the spending review process

making an additional commitment of

funding of £2.8 billion to the NHS

in England.

He also told MPs talks were under

way about a pay rise for nurses.

But the surprise announcement came

at the end of the Speech.

Philip Hammond said there'd be

£44 billion in overall government

support for housing to meet target

of building 300,000 new homes a year

by the middle of the next decade.

With effect from today, for all

first-time buyer purchases up to

£300,000, I am abolishing stamp duty

altogether.

When the din had died down,

he said that would be a cut for 95%

of all first time buyers who pay

stamp duty, though the measure

doesn't apply in Scotland.

Well, it's down to the Leader

of the Opposition, not

the shadow chancellor,

to reply to the budget.

With little time to absorb

the announcements it's seen

as on of the toughest

Parliamentary occasions.

Jeremy Corbyn said the test

of any budget was how it

affected people's lives.

A lot of people will be no better

off and the misery that many add-in

will be continuing. Pay, Mr Speaker,

is now lower than it was in 2010 and

wages are now falling again.

Economic growth in the first three

quarters of this year is the lowest

since 2009 and the slowest of the

major economies in the G-7. It is a

record of failure with a forecast of

more to come.

He argued schools in England

would be worse off,

and the government had missed

the opportunity to act on capping

credit card debt and boosting

social care funding.

Jeremy Corbyn said over a million

older people weren't getting

the care they needed and he reacted

angrily to a heckle

from a Conservative MP.

Over 6 billion will have been cut

from social care budgets by next

March. I hope the honourable member

begins to understand what it is like

to wait for social care, stuck in a

hospital bed, with other people

having to give up the work to care

for them. The uncaring, uncouth

attitude of certain members...

And on housing Jeremy Corbyn

reckoned we'd heard it all before.

The government promised 200,000

starter homes three years ago. Not a

single one has yet been built in

those three years. We need a large

scale publicly funded house-building

programme, not this government's

accounting tricks and empty

promises. We back the abolition of

stamp duty for first-time buyers

because it was another Labour policy

in our manifesto in June, not a Tory

one.

People he concluded had been let

down by a government that was weak

and unstable and in need of change.

The SNP Westminster group leader

was equally gloomy saying

there'd been a "shredding"

of growth forecasts."

And it's a threat to the wages, to

the living standards and to the job

prospects are people up and down the

United Kingdom. Frankly, it is a

government that should be ashamed of

itself.

And he insisted Scotland

would be worse off.

Before the winds of Brexit head is,

the starting position for millions

of people is that by then we will

already have been struggling with

nine years posterity. The cuts being

imposed on public services mean

service delivery is impacted and

public service workers in particular

are feeling the squeeze. This is a

budget that choose the Chancellor is

either blind to what is going on or

he is behaving like a frightened

rabbit caught in the headlights.

Ian Blackford and debate

on the budget continues

for another four days.

Well, the big moment

on a Wednesday is usually

Prime Minister's Questions.

On Budget Day, though, it is merely

a curtain-raiser for the Chancellor.

But despite second billing, PMQs did

deliver a surprise of its own -

the Leader of the Opposition's six

questions are almost

always a Brexit-free zone,

but not this time.

Mr Speaker, the Irish Prime Minister

who has discussed Brexit with the

British government says sometimes it

doesn't seem like they have got all

this through. So can the Prime

Minister reassure him by clearly

outlining the government's policy on

the Irish border?

We are very clear,

first of all that in relation to the

movement of people the Common travel

area will continue to operate as it

has done since 1923, and on trade

and movement of goods across the

border we will not see a hard border

being introduced. We have been very

clear.

Yesterday, the Foreign

Secretary said there could be no

border, that would be unthinkable,

and that may be but they have had 17

months to come up with an answer to

this question and that is still no

answer to the question because they

have not engaged with the

negotiations properly.

We have been

engaged fully in the negotiations in

relation to Northern Ireland and

other issues, and indeed significant

progress has been made, and that is

why for example I have said that we

have got agreement on the operation

of the Common travel area for the

future. He says we haven't put

forward any ideas about the board

that aren't actually we published a

paper in the summer about the

possible custom arrangements.

The

EU's chief negotiator said this week

the UK financial sector will lose

its current rights to trade with

Europe. It seems neither EU

negotiators nor the government have

any idea where this is going. Last

week the Brexit secretary said he

would guarantee free movement for

bankers post Brexit. Are there any

other groups to whom the Prime

Minister believes freedom of

movement should apply? Nurses,

doctors, teachers, scientists,

agricultural workers, who?

I'm very interested the honourable

gentleman has found that his

appearances at prime ministers

questions have been going so well

he's borrowed a question from the

leader of the Liberal Democrats

which he asked me last week. Perhaps

the Leader of the Opposition should

pay a little more attention to what

happens in Prime Minister 's

questions. We have been absolutely

clear that we will be introducing

new immigration laws and as we

introduce those we will take account

of the needs of the petition economy

in doing so that is why my friend

Mike the Home Secretary has asked

the migration advisory committee to

advise those areas where we need to

pay attention to migration. We want

to get on to deal with the question

of the future trading relationship

that we have with the European Union

but we also... I am also optimistic

about the opportunities that will be

available to this country and about

the deal they can get from the

negotiations we are having. The

honourable gentleman can't even

decide whether he wants to be in the

single customs union or out of it,

he needs to get his act together.

Isn't the truth this government has

no energy, no agreed plan and no

strategy to deliver a good Brexiter

Britain?

I'm optimistic about our

future. I'm optimistic about the

success we can make of Brexited. I'm

optimistic about the well-paid jobs

that will be created. I'm optimistic

about the homes we will build. That

is Conservatives building a Britain

fit for the future.

Canny Brahman is

to tell the house how many jobs have

been lost this week with the

departure of the European medicines

authority and the European banking

authority from London?

We are seeing

those particular two agencies leave

the United Kingdom and go elsewhere

in the EU. When he talks about the

number of jobs being created we have

seen under this government 3 million

jobs being created. That is a record

I would've thought he would be to

welcome.

You're watching Wednesday

in Parliament, with me,

Alicia McCarthy.

The UK could be facing

an "epidemic" of opiod abuse.

That was the warning from an MP

following thousands of deaths

in the United States linked

to the synthetic opiod, fentanyl,

a painkiller many times

stronger then heroin.

The threat was raised in a debate

in Westminster Hall.

The epidemic of drug overdoses in

America is killing people at almost

double the rate of both firearm and

motor vehicle related deaths.

Between 1999 and 2015 it is

estimated that fentanyl and it's to

River Teise have killed

approximately 300,000 people in the

US during that time. These numbers

are of virtual biblical proportions.

My concerns are... When the US

sneezes the UK catches a cold so I

am concerned we may be on the brink

of a fentanyl outbreak here.

But Mr Mackinlay opposed any

liberalisation of current drug laws.

I feel that we should be upping our

game in three strands of work. That

is education in schools, colleges

and universities. I'd like to see

significantly increased sentences

for drug supply. And I feel that we

should be giving some thought now,

as we cope or potentially have to

cope with fentanyl and similar

lethal derivatives. Perhaps by

creating a new class, a double-A

class of these really truly lethal

drugs.

Other speakers recognised

the threat, but a former

Justice Minister said the so-called

war on drugs had been

an unmitigated disaster.

So, I say to my honourable friend,

instead of doubling down on a

failing policy and demanding yet

more higher sentences for particular

parts of the supply chain... The

failing policy, an example he gave,

has led to the highest level of

opioid drug deaths since records

began. We should be learning from

decriminalisation and public health

approaches in other countries. In

Portugal for example where the

possession of small amount of drugs

has been decriminalised since 2001,

step well short of licensing and

regulation, usage rates are amongst

the lowest in Europe.

Let's treat it

as a health issue not a criminal

justice issue. Let's accept across

our country the principle of safer

drug consumption rooms. They are

already saving lives in eight

European countries. In Canada,

Australia it is endorsed by the BMA.

No one dies of an overdose in a drug

consumption room. Let's accept that

evidence and apply it in this

country before we continue the

carnage of loss of life that we are

experiencing now.

Regulation doesn't

mean a free for all where drugs are

available. Current laws have already

achieved via. We have to take the

control away from the Chronicle

fraternity. The war on drugs has

killed innocent and made the guilty

rich. It has destroyed communities

and compound of the difficulties

faced in addressing addiction

problems. The UK government spends

1.6 alien pounds a year and drug law

enforcement and as was pointed out

earlier and even the government know

their drug policy has failed.

The

minister cannot come before us today

and honestly believe his government

are improving services and seriously

addressing this issue when they are

overseeing such a significant cuts

that are rolling back provision and

addiction services.

Replying the minister said

an ambitious drugs strategy had been

unveiled earlier this year.

Deaths linked to fentanyl

contaminated heroin have been seen

in parts of the UK and he gave us a

graphic illustration of the impact

in certain parts of the US which I

agree with him is extremely

worrying. These underline the

importance of vigilance and strong

enforcement action by the police and

National Crime Agency as well as

accessible treatment and the

availability of life-saving

treatments.

Philip Dunne.

Five people with disabilities

and long-term illnesses have been

sharing the difficulties they've

experienced when

applying for benefits.

The Work and Pensions Committee

is examining the assessment process

for Employment and Support Allowance

and Personal Independence Payments,

for people with disabilities

and long-term illnesses.

I got run over by a car and had

major nerve damage in my left leg.

It has caused me a disability. I

have got a fused hip. I went to a

tribunal, was only scored seven

points, and then I got reassessed

within three weeks and was granted

PIP.

Amanda Browning was diagnosed with

chronic fatigue syndrome in 2008.

When I first applied for benefits,

it was 2009 and I've had half a

dozen plus assessments. My last two

have been very difficult. ESA

assessment I had in 2016 initially I

was taken off benefits. And I won my

appeal in 2017 and put back on.

I've

got multiple sclerosis. I've had it

since 1993. And I was receiving

Disability Living Allowance at the

higher rate for both.

She was reassessed when DLA

was replaced by PIP.

I received high rate mobility

standard rate care.

Denise Martin hasn't

worked since 2011.

I also, like my colleague, moved

over from DLA to PIP last year and I

lost my mobility element. I didn't

say sorry I've got fibromyalgia,

bipolar and spinal issues.

And the

childhood Cancer survivor with dual

sensory loss. I previously lived in

Northern Ireland for many years. And

I didn't have any difficulties with

my benefits there. I received DLA

and ESA. When I moved over here, I

applied for ESA and PIPs. I applied

for both of those in January of this

year. And the process for both of

them was extremely frustrating and

very disappointing, a lot of

problems, different problems with

both of them.

Then it was the turn of MPs

to introduce themselves.

Frank Field.

I'm really sorry for

being late, the trains were awful.

Can we accept Heidi's apology

because if she was sent to a

Jobcentre... She would have been

sanctioned.

Turning to the application

process, Frank Field asked

about filling the forms in.

How many of you sought help and what

sort of help did you get?

I sought

help. I looked at it and cried. It

was so daunting to be frightened

about what to put down.

After the application

comes the assessment.

Natalie McGinn sid she was

"absolutely appalled"

by her PIP assessor.

It was very, very obvious to me that

the assessor had no deaf awareness.

She didn't strike me as being very

professional and having very good

disability awareness. She didn't

seem to be very understanding or

experienced of the difficulties that

I had.

The problems I've had with

ESA, she was always smiling, she was

almost like a smiling assassin. She

was saying I was here to help you,

to do this and do that. I was pushed

into the examination room in a

wheelchair. She then said I could

walk 50 metres.

I endeavoured to

work most of my life. This isn't a

choice that we make easily. It is

all stacked against us, you know?

And predominantly I've a mental

illness that affects me quite

severely. It's really, really tough.

In his budget the Chancellor said

he and the Environment Secretary,

Michael Gove would look at how

the taxes and charges could be used

to reduce plastic waste.

It follows the introduction of a 5p

charge on single use carrier bags,

which is credited with driving down

use by 85%.

Now there are calls to bring

in a levy on plastic drinks bottles

and disposable coffee cups.

In the Lords, Peers reckoned that

couldn't come too soon.

Did you see the alarming findings of

the BBC's programme into the

disposable plastics and the effects

described in the teller? Blue planet

programme on marine life? What

advice is the government giving to

local authorities and others to deal

more creatively with the disposable

of plastics and the replacement of

plastics by materials that can be

recycled more easily?

My Lords, I

didn't have the privilege of seeing

that particular programme although I

hear it was extremely good so I

regret not seeing it. The noble Lord

is right to focus attention on some

of the challenges that are being

faced. We are improving our position

as a nation. There is much to do. We

are in favour of upping the targets

that are being looked at. And not

yet announced to what that will be,

that improvement. 60% is the target

but that will be upped. He's right

about the problem with marine

challenges which is something we are

looking at and also black plastic

two which is a particular problem

which we have a working group

looking at.

Could the Minister say

something about the millions of

plastic bottles that can't be

recycled and are being put into

waste? Can't we have positive action

to cut down the number of plastic

bottles? They are a disgrace.

The

noble Lord will be aware of the

Chancellor has announced we will be

looking at how we can tackle the

particular problem perhaps through

taxation in relation to single use

plastics. In relation to bottles

come there is a challenge there. We

beat ourselves up to much. In 2000,

13,000 tonnes of plastic wattles

were recycled. In 2016, that was

343,000 tonnes. There is much to do

but we are on track my Lords.

And that's it from me for now,

but do join me at the same time

tomorrow for another round up

of the day at Westminster as that

budget debate continues,

but for now from me, goodbye.